STATE PUBLIC AFFAIRS BROADCASTS.

SEC. 209. STATE PUBLIC AFFAIRS BROADCASTS. Section 335(b) is amended—(1) by inserting “state public affairs,” after “educational,” in the heading;(2) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following:“(1) Channel capacity required.—“(A) In general.—Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the Commission shall require, as a condition of any provision, initial authorization, or authorization renewal for a provider of direct broadcast satellite service providing video programming, that the provider of such service reserve a portion of its channel capacity, equal to not less than 4 percent nor more than 7 percent, exclusively for noncommercial programming of an educational or informational nature.“(B) Requirement for qualified satellite provider.—The Commission shall require, as a condition of any provision, initial authorization, or authorization renewal for a qualified satellite provider of direct broadcast satellite service providing video programming, that such provider reserve a portion of its channel capacity, equal to not less than 3.5 percent nor more than 7 percent, exclusively for noncommercial programming of an educational or informational nature.”;(3) in paragraph (5), by striking “For purposes of the subsection—” and inserting “For purposes of this subsection:”; and(4) by adding at the end of paragraph (5) the following:“(C) The term ‘qualified satellite provider’ means any provider of direct broadcast satellite service that—“(i) provides the retransmission of the State public affairs networks of at least 15 different States;“(ii) offers the programming of State public affairs networks upon reasonable prices, terms, and conditions as determined by the Commission under paragraph (4); and124 STAT. 1255“(iii) does not delete any noncommercial programming of an educational or informational nature in connection with the carriage of a State public affairs network.“(D) The term ‘State public affairs network’ means a non-commercial non-broadcast network or a noncommercial educational television station—“(i) whose programming consists of information about State government deliberations and public policy events; and“(ii) that is operated by—“(I) a State government or subdivision thereof;“(II) an organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 that is exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of such Code and that is governed by an independent board of directors; or“(III) a cable system.”.